Sand's Beloved
Casting the Wind Shadow "I see." A somewhat solemn voice stated, as numerous elders surrounded him on a large, round table. " -sama, what shall we do about this?" One of the elders asked in panic, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. "It appears that this is a difficult situation." Another one said, a bit calmer than the last one. "I agree with you there." Finally, another one of those annoying elders said. The red-haired, middle-aged man in the middle of the room, adorned with the robes of the , listened and listened to the rattling of these old men. "Stop this nonsense, elders." Gaara had said, standing up in response to their idle chatter. "Your bickering will not get us anywhere. The other Shinobi countries' Kage have recently been enlisted, and therefore, do not hold the experience to manage such a dire problem." He paused, briefly. "I will go. And single-handedly, with the power of the Shukaku behind me, I will stop a calamity from reaching the Shinobi world. That is my will, and none of you have the right to stop me." The announcement frightened the elders. "What!? Do you realize the...-!?" Gaara cut him off, "I do. And that is precisely why I am engaging now, before the armies grow beyond even my control." The elders, knowing Gaara's logic was perfectly reasonable, tilted their heads in shame. "Prepare for my departure, and ask the sealing team to bring me an enormous quantity of sealing tags...this will be a long fight." And then, Gaara strode off, and away from the building. He looked upon the skies that covered his village within desert for but a moment. Opening the azure eyes lined with black eye rings, he looked upon the conjuring army present before him. Adorned proudly in his Kazekage robes, he placed the hat upon the ground, and beside him lied four gourds of sand, as well as his own strapped across his back. "Perhaps this isn't the best option available...but, , I will protect all that I am allowed to...even if it be with my life!" His thoughts echoed within him, flooding him with a unique resolve. "Shukaku...are you prepared?" He asked him, out loud, as to which the beast screamed within his body. "You kidding!? I'm going to have the most fun I have had in my life!" Gaara simply smiled slightly, but a tear welled up in both of his eyes. "Shinobi Forces of the Western Countries! I, the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand Waterfall, have come to prevent an outbreak of war! Please, consider negotiations one more time!" His voice echoed throughout the land, its power being reverberated by the wind. He only wanted a small period of time from them, if only just a second, all in the name of peace. The thousands of shinobi mumbled and muttered, the sound carrying over like a thousand rustling leaves. Directly across the young Kazekage, the sea of enemies parted, one giant stepping forwards with a hammer the size of an average man resting on his shoulders. Aside from the rough beard obscuring the lower half of his face, the man was pure muscle, wearing nothing but torn trousers, revealing numerous scars and tattoos. His steps were twice the size of any man, and he covered the distance between him and his enemy in a small ten seconds. The Kazekage couldn't help but notice the other men slightly sighing as the giant distanced himself from then - almost if they were relieved he was no longer among their ranks. The man lifted the hammer of his shoulder and let it hit the ground with a loud crash, the hilt reaching above Gaara's head. He let out a loud, beckoning laugh, three teeth missing from making the yellow set complete. "I'm sorry kid, didn't you learn how to count yet? You're a drop of water in hell, so prepare to sizzle out-" It was clear the man was not much of a talker and god knew how their wasn't some sort of leader figure who had stopped him from these rash actions, but when his sentence finished he lifted his gigantic weapon and let it crash down right in front of the redhead's feet. Backed by the nature the brute appeared to possess, his sheer strength was enough to crack the surface of the earth like thin ice, creating a crater that was large enough to even consume members of the army's first ranks. The Kazekage - Gaara - had not budged even an inch. The earth shook around him, and he was left standing perfectly still. "Oi, kid! Pummel the shit out of this big guy!" The Shukaku shouted within Gaara's body, and Gaara sighed outwardly. "It appears that my efforts are for naught." Releasing the hold on the gourd at his back, he let out a small volume of sand: "Then I shall start with you." Immediately, the sand concentrated, and forged an arm of sorts, which wrapped around the hammer of the giant. In that very motion, he proceeded to lift the hammer; and proceeded to control the hammer with such fluidity, that in the next moment, the hammer appeared try and slam the giant's abdomen at an enormous speed. The hammer hit the giant like a gong. Something broke; slowly, steadily, like a skyscraper toppling over. The more-muscle-than-man almost made the earth shake when he hit it, a crash that resonated throughout the battlefield, cascading over the thousands of faceless heads and temporarily bathing everything in silence. Then, suddenly, an explosion of sound. Starting from the front, the entire army cried out and chanted, the screeching of metal mixing into the noise when kunai, swords, axes and other weapons too strange to name were drawn and prepared. Whether it was rage due to seeing their comrade go down or relief that they no longer had to share the ranks with him, every single of Gaara's opponent were screaming at the top of their lungs and ready to tear him apart. The first wave of shinobi, 7 men and 4 women descended upon the Kazekage, assaulting him with their weapons and one of them with their legs. Behind them, the enormous shadow of the army moved forward, ready to replace every man Gaara wiped away with a dozen more. "Successive Shots: Sand Drizzle." Gaara callously stated, as a larger quantity of sand appeared from his gourd and formed an almost snake-like apparition surrounding his being. Immediately, portions of sand began to form spherical constructs within the apparition, at which they immediately fired against the opponents that charged towards him. One bullet was fired against each opponent, while Gaara proceeded to look upon the next wave and make precautions. Shinobi fell down like grain during harvest. Some dead, some wounded, some just pretending to be one of the two. But the attacks were relentless, however innefective they turned out to be. Nevertheless, the shinobi inched closer, sometimes trampling teammates in the process. "That's Earth Release, use lightning!" A voice came from behind the lines. It didn't take too long before the first bolt came out of the ranks, soon joined by many companions. The shinobi halted their approach for a while, staying out of range of the deadly projectiles from both sides and waiting to see the Kazekage's reaction. "Pah! Lightning can't do shit against me, little idiots!" The Shukaku roared - he liked to do that a lot - and Gaara appropriately responded. Without any effort whatsoever, he layered his sand with reinforced chakra, but spread it out widely enough to "blanket" the effects of the lightning away from his being, making an extraordinarily display of firework-like effects. After the lightning would dissipate, leaving his sand in a state almost akin to , Gaara simply placed his palm on the ground, and almost instantly, an replaced the environment right before him. This wave of sand began to move forward at a relatively high speed, but began to convert all its surroundings through grinding the materials and forming extra sand. "Take that, biiiitches!" The Shukaku howled with delight. Greater even than the wave of sand was the fear washing over the shinobi. All of their combined efforts hand't even been enough to be an annoyance to their opponent. Was he even human? As their sunlight was blotted out by the sand, the shinobi stumbled back, tripping over fallen comrades and trampling others in the process. But as the masses retreated, one group persisted, the army washing around them like a rock in a river. In perfection synchronization, they formed hand seals and each spat out a torrent of water, amassing into a wave perfectly mirroring the Kazekage's. They clashed, and the sand fell harmlessly to the ground. The platoon didn't budge, ten shinobi with the same outfit and the same expression, breathing and moving as one. The frightened shinobi regained their calm somewhat, inspired by the ten unwavering in the face of the superhuman. They split, 5 forming hand seals in union once more and the others moving towards the Kazekage, all the while dodging his assaults. When only a few meters separated them from their target, they rested their hands on the ground, creating a giant fissure that tore apart the very earth the Kazekage was standing on. In this instant, the others had managed to form no less than 43 hand signs, forming a giant raging dragon of water, who lifted its head and crashed into Gaara from above. "Courage...a true element of Shinobi!" Gaara proclaimed, prior to focusing on the current situation. He was targeted by two assaults, and to fend against both of these assaults was rather ridiculous. Therefore, he prioritized fending off against the serpentine dragon of water above him. The Kazekage immediately conjured a platform of sand in order to remain stable in the air. Subsequently, he formed a wave of sand whose shape transformed into a similar dragon. Almost instantly, the two massive forces collided to create a rather...underwhelming effect; Gaara's sand was dampened. However, Shukaku's presence then boiled within Gaara's chest, at which his eyes transformed into Shukaku's own. Cloaking himself temporarily in the beast's chakra, Shukaku shouted: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Utilizing the sand as a medium, Gaara sent powerful projectiles which were accelerated by the kinetic force of the wind, therefore breaking through the dragon almost instantly. Descending onto the ground at rapid speeds, Gaara reused the sand and sent out another wave of ballistic projectiles. This time, they were remotely shaped spears which appeared to split as they continued to absorb more sand from their surroundings, eventually forming an extremely widespan assault of more than a hundred sand spears, each directed towards incapacitating or outright killing the Shinobi that stood before him, courageously. Category:Ashy